Semiconductor wafers (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”) are stuck with a protective adhesive sheet on the circuit surface thereof. After the wafers are subjected to various processes such as a rear face grinding process, the adhesive sheet is peeled. A peeling apparatus for such adhesive sheet is disclosed in e.g. Patent Document 1. In the document, a wafer is integrated with a ring frame through a mounting tape in order to ensure handleability thereof. A process of peeling off an adhesive sheet from the wafer is carried out by sticking a peeling tape to the outer periphery side of the adhesive sheet before moving the peeling tape relative to a table for supporting the wafer together with the ring frame.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-43047